My friend and I started scrap quilts today. We are making two of the same quilt, about 48″ X 60″ and consisting of 80 (!) unique fabrics. We only picked out the fabrics and cut the squares today, which meant 80 different fabrics had to be coordinated and ironed and cut. It was a bit of a mess:
But we ended up with a lovely stack of squares!
Next time: sewing it all together.
It’s the first day of April, which is usually the day I begin to get rather alarmed that the semester is nearly over, I have mounds of data to analyze and model before a conference, I still have to write my qualifying exams, and I am supposed to be developing an entirely new research protocol for the baby lab. But the weather has been warm and wet and springy in New Jersey and the forsythias are blooming, and I can’t help but feel (probably erroneously) that there is plenty of time for everything, including crafts. So here is what I am hoping to finish up this month:
I’ll post my April progress as I make it!
I stopped in the local church thrift store today, and $2 later I came home with a pretty good haul. A new sweater, a nice textbook on music theory, two awesome books full of kid crafts and activities, and two patterns, one for a rocking horse ornament, one for ballet slippers. Not too bad!
My friend and fellow plant-addict came over last week and taught me how to macrame plant holders (a great blog post on this here). Macrame is incredibly simple and surprisingly cool-looking. I had some non-stretchy white cotton yarn that I got on sale and some gifted beads, and I made two plant-holders featuring 4 different macrame knots. The brown one holding the fern is dyed with black tea.
I live in a small place but I have a bit of a plant problem! So far, the plants I have have fit on my window or on stands by the window. Lately I’ve acquired some more though. Here I’m growing some herbs and an avocado that I sprouted in water and planted in dirt. I also recently got a few new cacti. The big plant is an orchid that blooms every few years or so. The clover was given to me at Christmas as just seeds in two small pots. I repotted it into one big pot recently. I got the little bonsai in the blue pot by trading someone my TV for it!
My boyfriend got me a Serissa bonsai for Christmas. My mom gave me the big spider plant after my dad passed away in 2003. The little spider plant and the philodendron were clippings given to me by my sista Trish! There is an aloe hidden behind the bonsai, also a gift from mom.
A jade and a tropical grass in our meditation/chilling area:
I made this case for my boyfriend’s mandolin last night. This was probably one of the most challenging projects I have undertaken. I didn’t have a pattern, so I made it up as I went along. It has two layers of batting to protect the instrument, and a double flap closure one side. I made the strap adjustable by using two D-rings. It has a zippered pocket on the front for picks, etc.
Given that it was such a hassle to make, I am rather pleased with the way it turned out!
My boyfriend and I do a lot of zen meditation, which involves sitting for long periods of time (readers of this blog may recall all the zafus and zabutons for sitting that I have made over the past year). Sitting still for long periods on 5-7 day sesshins in a cold zendo, we usually bring blankets to lay over our laps to stay warm. Last sesshin, my boyfriend used a quilt I had made many years ago, a green and blue one I made with leftover scraps from a quilt I had made for my mom. He said he ended up growing really fond of it over the week, especially the rather zen color scheme of it. So I decided to make him his own quilt for his birthday, specifically with meditation in mind:
The blue and green center are meant to be water- and nature-like, while the large black border is meant to represent the emptiness of zen. I decided to mix Buddhisms a little bit and embroider a tiny and subtle Om on the center piece:
He was totally surprised and loved it! I must say I am pretty excited about how it turned out myself. This quilt was actually one of the smoothest-going quilts I have ever made; I didn’t have to rip out a single seam or re-cut any pieces. This quilt really wanted to be made! 
I gave a lot of this combination out for Christmas this year, but it makes a great gift for any time: hand-knit wash cloth and homemade sugar scrub:
For the scrub, I mixed:
4 parts brown sugar
1 part olive oil
Then, to scent it: a dash of essential oil (like lavender), grated lemon or orange peel, grated ginger, chopped mint, etc.
I had lots of jam, mustard, and bell jars laying around that I repurposed for holding scrub, and voila! A great gift that costs practically nothing and reuses old jars.
For the washcloth, I used Cotton Ease; one skein can make a lot of good-sized cloths. I like making washcloths because they are quick little samplers that allow you to practice patterns. The cloth pictured is a simple seed stitch border with stockinette.
It was too snowy to work on Wednesday afternoon so we finally busted out the set of watercolors that Santa left for Hazel in her Christmas stocking. I got the colors started for her by putting a few drops on top of each - but I don’t think I will do that next time - she was pretty in to the whole process - dip - dip- in the water - swirl it around in the color - and then PAINT!
She painted the paper - she painted the table - herself - the floor - even poor Faustus didn’t escape a touch of color - I think my next sewing project is going to have to be a toddler smock!
I made some note cards by cutting out some of the more painted areas of the paper - I think they came out pretty well - and I know a few people who would be pretty psyched to receive one - and YES… I did use my brand new pinking shears on paper - and YES… it was totally impulsive and I am deeply ashamed!
One of the things I’ve been really looking forward to is working on crafty stuff with Hazel. Its such a big part of my life and I’m so excited to be able to share my love of all things creative with her - and she’s finally getting to the age where we can do some simple stuff together. Here are a few of the projects we’ve done for Valentine’s Day:
Gotta Love AC Moore! Hazel thinks sticking stickers to stuff is the ultimate of cool - I bought this hanging wood heart thing for $2 and found some coordinating heart stickers in the scrapbook section. She’s pretty proud of this one - and gets all excited when I point out to people “look what Hazel did” - I think it looks pretty nice - and I was also pretty impressed that all of the stickers weren’t put on less than 10% of the surface area - which is how she usually operates…
This was another really fun - and VERY messy -Valentines Day craft that we made together. I cut out heart shapes from red construction paper and Hazel stuck glittery heart stickers all over them. Then we dumped globs of glitter glue everywhere and used our fingers to paint them. Hazel really liked getting all goopy - and I didn’t mind the mess so much - although somehow her poop was suspiciously sparkly the next day - trust me… always buy non toxic… just in case.
I knitted a bunch of Christmas gifts this year - and after madly trying to finish up the very last few on Christmas eve and MORNING! (yikes) I actually took a brief 2 week hiatus from knitting anything - then I knit a hat for Hazel which she loved while I was making - but cried and ripped off her head when it was finished.
So I decided to make something for MYSELF! Which rarely ever happens - aside from the needle holder I just did - but that’s utilitarian and doesn’t count…. right?
My knitting group went on a “field trip” to Webs in Northampton -this store truly is the schizknit- its huge - its got beautiful yarn - its got a knowledgeable and friendly staff - seriously next time you get a chance - go there - and preferably… go with a mini van full of awesome like minded knitters and crocheters - you’ll never have more fun.
I digress…
So I wanted to knit something for myself. I wanted to go to Webs with an armload of patterns to buy yarn for. AND I wanted to try my first felted project. I found this free pattern on Lisabee Designs and decided that this was the one. Here’s how its coming along…
You know… I never really thought of myself as someone who was really into blue - but I picked out at random a bunch of colors that I thought would look nice together - and somehow I ended up with three different shades.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress….